1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat display device, and more particularly, a cooling apparatus for a flat display device, which can be operated with a low noise while quickly dissipating internal heat to an external side.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unlike a cathode ray tube (CRT), a flat display uses a driving circuit arranged in a matrix pattern to differently excite pixels and thus realize an image. Recently, the flat display device has been widely used as it has advantageous in that it takes up a relatively small space. A variety of flat display modules such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a field emission display (FED), a plasma display panel (PDP), and an electro-luminescence (EL) have been applied to the flat display device.
The flat display device using the flat display module is reduced in a thickness as compared with the CRT. However, since a large number of heat-generating components have to be incorporated in a narrow space of the display device, the heat, which is generated by the heat-generating components in the flat display device during the operation of the flat display module, must be effectively dissipated to an external side.
Particularly, in the case of the PDP, since the image is realized by electric discharge of discharge gas, large amount of heat is generated. Therefore, if the large amount of heat is not quickly dissipated, the display device may malfunction. Needless to say, in the case of other types of flat display devices, the heat dissipation performance is very important fact determining the quality thereof.
In order to locally dissipate the heat, a heat sink is attached on a rear surface of a specific component generating a large amount of heat to cool the specific component. Furthermore, in order to generally dissipate the heat, a plurality of holes is formed on a cover of the flat display device so that cool air can pass through the holes. However, although the cooling effect for the specific component can be expected, the heat is not effectively dissipated to the external side. Therefore, the flat display device cannot be stably operated. That is, the internal temperature of the flat display device increases to deteriorate the performance of the flat display device.
In order to solve the above problem, an axial fan is installed on a rear center portion of a back cover in a direction perpendicular to a direction where the display device is formed. The axial fan forcedly exhausts the internal high temperature air of the flat display device to the external side through a rear side of the display device. In this case, although the heat collected in the display device can be effectively discharged to the external side, excessive noise is generated during the operation of the axial fan. Furthermore, a gap of ten or more centimeters must be provided between the rear surface of the display device and the wall so that the air can be exhausted. In addition, due to a gap between the axial fan and the flat display module and a thickness of the axial fan, an overall thickness of the flat display device increases.
Furthermore, a plurality of holes through which the air is exhausted and introduced are formed on the back cover. The holes of the back cover deteriorate strength of the back cover. Therefore, the back cover must be enough thick. In this case, the manufacturing cost increases.